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it was a historic visit, we go back to 1987 and the journey of pope john paul ii to

northern california. and we look at the other papal visits to the united states. >> i give you my best wishes. >> and we look at the lives of john paul ii and the career to date of pope benedict xvi. good evening and welcome to a second look. pope john paul ii came to san francisco at the time that the city was at the grips of the aids epidemic. what the pope did helped to comfort those with aids. he reached out and touched them offering a blessing an hope of healing. we have a report from that day. beginning with rita williams who was at mission dolores with the pope's visit to the california's oldest mission. >> reporter: john paul ii

warmly greeted those along the center aisle of the pope. some of the 900 invited guests. the pope then approached the nine pews of aids patients. and certainly the most moving moment came when 4-year-old brendan ororke reached out to hug the holy father. little brendan contracted aids from a blood transfusion at birth. the pope then moved to other aids sufferers, most of them gay. it was the first time the leader of a catholic church has met directly with aids sufferers. from there the pope went alone to pray in the old mission. the oldest building in san

francisco. in prepared remarks the pope proclaimed the unconditional and ever lasting love of god for all people dwelling at lenghts on sin and forgiveness. he did not mention homosexuality and referred only once to aids. >> too those who -- to those who are sick, to those who are suffering from aids and aids related complex. >> reporter: it's the way the holy father personally moved each one of them what will be remembered. >> now it wasn't as excited when i got married and it was a wonderful day. this was the greatest day in my life, and for brendan. >> this is going to help us on the ordeal we're going through.

>> he put his hands on my head and gave me a smile that said yes. that said, god loves you, i love you. >> reporter: earlier in the day, pope john paul began the morning in monterey county where he led a mass for tens of thousands of workers. >> reporter: thousands were given the day off. agustin romo and his family would be getting ready to pick strawberries were it not for the court. >> we have a great seat. >> you have the best seats in the house probably. >> i think so. >> reporter: this group is from the polish mission church in san jose. >> i'm catholic and he's the pope. and i came here to see him. it doesn't matter for me he's

polish or a different nationality. for me it's the pope. >> reporter: not too far away we find maria cortinas not the best seat but good enough. >> are you cold maria? >> poquito. >> how do you like the view you have here? >> it's beautiful. she likes it. >> reporter: a few hours later, cortina's view no longer exists. heavy fog rolls in and while the papal preliminary continues the pope is heard but not seen. but many say the pope will be felt. the weather still caused enough concern to cancel the pope's

helicopter ride into laguna seca. the pope's homily hits many themes including the plight of farm workers. >> and those who work in agriculture, in which many of you are engaged is to be carried out as the service of men and for the glory odd god. >> reporter: it is a crowd that endures a hot sun, a crowd estimated at 72,000. smaller than hoped for but still those who are here are glad they came. many leaving with one of the red petunias that made up the mile long river of red. still to come, the first time that the head of the catholic church came to the united states for an extended visit in 1979. and the focus of the most recent visit by pope benedict who addressed the clergy scandal during his visit just five years ago. [ female announcer ] now your best accessory can be your smile.

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the history of papal trips to the united states is a short one. in fact, the first papal visit took place in october of 1965 when pope paul vi visited. he gave a mass and visited with children. >> i thank you for the flowers all your presents and i know that you are good children. are you good? certainly. and i give you my best wishes and my blessing. >> reporter: it would be 14 years before another pope visited the united states when john paul ii made the first of seven trips here. anchor dennis richmond began our coverage of the pope's arrival in the united states on

october 1, 1979. >> reporter: several hundred dignitaries are at hand with a mass that over 1 million people are supposed to attend. porter attended for president carter. tip o'neil bowed to kiss the pope's king as did ted kennedy. after mr. carter's brief welcome, the pope ended with an apology for not being able to greet with everyone. and ended with the singing of the national anthem. >> it is not possible for me to enter into every home. to greet personally every man and woman, to caress every child in who's eyes is

reflected the innocence of life, still i feel close to all of you and you are all in my prayers. permit me to express my sentiments in the lyrics of your own song. america, america, god shed his grace on thee. and crown thy -- >> following the airport ceremony the pope was whisked through the streets of washington to the cheers of tens of thousands of admirers. in 2008, pope benedict xvi

flew his plane shepherd i to washington, d.c. even before he landed he began to speak on one of the scandals. the pope said he was gravely ashamed about the abuse scandal. >> reporter: president bush did something never done before. greeted the pope. he told reporters on board that he still has trouble understanding how catholic priests could have molested american children. >> i'm deeply ashamed and can't believe this is possible that this can happen in future. >> reporter: the church has paid out more than $2 billion

to settle the cases. >> it's good that there's as many good priests as bad priests. >> reporter: but a man told us the pope's word are not enough. >> despite his apology today that he's going to pray and try to stop it he's continuing to put accused predators in ministry because they haven't been convicted. >> reporter: joey piscateli from s.n.a.p. says some accused priests haven't been convicted because of the statute of limitations. as for the pope meeting president bush. >> i think it's just a political photo op is what they're doing. president bush if you look at his record has done absolutely nothing about the sex abuse crisis. >> s.n.a.p. has much to be angry about because i think we as a church has not responded as healing as we could to the situation. >> reporter: still oakland

brees jason l earthquake ndeza -- still oak land priest jason lendeza says he will likely not speak about the sex scandal but about the opposition to the war in iraq. >> i'm pretty excited. >> reporter: excited about seeing the pope speak at the stadium. the pope will likely hold a mass. we assure american catholics that even though there's now a short of of priests and some diocese have gone bankrupt, the church is still growing strong. about 23% of all americans are catholic. at the time he was elected, pope benedict xvi was chosen in one of the quickest vatican conclaves of the past century: but who was cardinal

rathsinger, bob mackenzie has moreen with the man who would spend more than a decade as the leader of the catholic church on the day he was chosen. >> reporter: and here he was, the new spiritual leader of 1 billion catholics, a 78-year- old vatican insider joseph rothenger, born in germany. a member of the curia, who run the daily affairs of the church. >> reporter: as the world looked into his eyes and tried to read him, most saw his

affirmation as conservative. he most likely won't be a liberalizing leader. today he spoke modestly of his own abilities. >> the cardinals have elected me a symbol, humble worker in the vineyard of the lord. >> reporter: president bush joined other world leaders in welcoming the pope. >> laura and i offer our congratulations to pope benedict xvi. he's a man of great wisdom and knowledge he's a man who serves the lord. and we remember well a sermon at the pope's funeral in rome how his words touched our hearts and the hearts of millions. >> the new faces enormous

challenges. a crippling short of of priest, disappearing congregations. born again christian movements in strongholds such as latin american and the it was clear from the joyful crowds that benedict 16 at least for now is riding his own wave of good will. >> bob mackenzie takes a look at the life of john paul ii. [ male announcer ] fact: the 100% electric nissan leaf...

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spiritual leader who's influence reached across the church. >> reporter: you can say of pope john paul ii he was a son of god. he was also a loving priest. but here's what is the kind of tough love. he expected his followers to followers to obey the tenants of the church. >> do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. >> reporter: bay area catholics cherished the memory of john paul's visit here in 1977 when still strong and well he made a hill grammage to mission tol organize re -- mission to the.

then he took a home to pray alone in the intermission the oldest building in san francisco. when the college of cardinals chose him to lead the pope. he was the the partners chose hem only 58. the second son of a retired army officer and school teacher. he lost hi mother when he was nine and brother when he was 12. as a young man he worked in a curry. he would always respect people who worked with his hands. he studied for the priesthood in secret and was ordained shortly after world war ie. then as i priest avenue the

government he and others had to keep their politicians the the himself. his passion for the poor impressed the vatican. as pope he set out in the footsteps of st. peter to become the rock that the church stands on. he was never to waiver, he was shot five times in an assassination attempt. as his body bent his spiritual spine did not. relentlessly he it can his message to a world that hello. some hoped he would take a

stands on matters such as material. >> to commit your service to the truth. america needs much prayer, or it will lose its soul. >> reporter: in 1987 behind bullet-proof gas he was greeted with agolation. but he called on fidel ka too. h he told -- but he called on fidel castro. he spoke openly against the war in iraq. causing discomfort for president bush. it wasn't the first time whence. the vatican had promised the pope would not bring the topic

of stem cell research. the pope ignored that and made a speech on the -p topic ooze the president listened. >> a free and gorgeous network. what is what the church is about to be. congregations have shrunk and churches clothed. but his many questions the the wins what the the the the but o one ever questioned his integrity and demotion. he -pl seemed to walk an ill

rule mated arch. it's likely when he died he was the most admired and most loved human being on earth. when we come back, a historic visit to the pope . please.

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tonight on a second look, we're remembering some of the historic moments of visits by popes. one of the visits that captured attention was pope john paul ii's visit to germany. >> reporter: for jews everywhere, pope john paul ii's visit to the holocaust memorial did more than anything else to affirm this pope's recognition of jewish suffering during world war